Review: The Star Alliance Lounge at LAX, New and Old

Update, October 2026

This review is of the Star Alliance lounge at LAX’s Tom Bradley terminal as it was in late 2013, when it was new; the food and the details below are from then. My 2012 review of the old lounge it replaced, which used to be its own post, is now at the end of this page.

I live in Southern California, so I’ve been through LAX tons of times in my lifetime. If you’ve been there before you’ll probably agree when I say a renovation was long, long overdue (note I reviewed the old Star Alliance Lounge last year). LAX had a bit of a preview/soft opening a few months ago and I was able to stop by for a while to check it out. It was amazing at the time…and that was without even seeing any of the lounges, which were unfinished at the time. This time I got to see the new Tom Bradley International Terminal and the completed Star Alliance Lounge, and it was just as great as I was hoping.

I got to the airport early to make sure I had plenty of time to check out the lounge. My flight departed at 6:45PM, and when I got to the lounge around 4:30PM it was pretty empty (along with the rest of the terminal). I took the elevator up to the third floor inside the terminal and checked in to the lounge, where they gave me the WiFi password. Then the self-guided tour began!

I’ll start with the blurry pictures first. I know I know…I’ll figure it out one day.

The Terrace

My favorite part of the lounge, at least so far, is the terrace area that overlooks the terminal’s Great Hall, which is officially named  Antonio Villaraigosa Pavilion. I’ll show a couple of pics first and then explain why I like it so much.

I think the pictures say it all, but not only is the area beautifully decorated, but the view of the space below and the giant TV screens make it so much better. If you had a chance to see the old lounge, you’ll know that the only windows in the place were of the check-in area below. The new terrace obviously feels very roomy with no ceiling, plus there’s plenty of natural light coming in from the many windows in the terminal.

The seats are comfortable and all have power outlets as you’d expect from a new lounge. The WiFi signal was very strong out there so internet wasn’t an issue. And those TV screens – I really think those are the most attractive part of the new terminal. They’re crystal clear and are always playing short videos of some sort, many of which are travel related. The one shown in the picture above was an old-school black and white comedy skit. The elevator shaft (which I didn’t take a picture of and can’t find the old pics I took) is also a giant TV and was part of the video. Oh, and there’s actually some nice stores to shop at down there too!

Food and Drinks

Now let’s take a look at the food options.

There’s not a ton of options here, but there doesn’t really need to be in my opinion. The appetizers were good – there were turkey, roast beef, and roasted red pepper and hummus wraps along with a Caesar salad option. The wraps weren’t particularly fresh but I’m being very nit-picky as they were still good.

The main course options were a  tomato bisque soup, vegetarian pasta, and chicken Parmesan with marinara sauce. I didn’t try the soup, but I did try the other options. To put it simply, they were both bland. If you’re hungry it definitely gets the job done, but don’t starve yourself all day in hopes of pigging out at the lounge. The food is adequate but not spectacular. As you’ll see later in this trip report, the Turkish Airlines Lounge in Istanbul will put this lounge to shame when it comes to food.

The desserts were simple – double chocolate chip cookies, mixed fruit, fresh whipped cream, and brownie bites. The cookies were definitely not fresh and were well on their way to being stale, but the brownies were better. The whipped cream and fruit was very good though.

I also visited the lounge a second time on a separate trip when there were completely different (mostly Asian) options:

There was also a Coca-Cola fountain for soda (but unfortunately no Coke Zero) and some Asian food options tucked away on the side that didn’t look particularly appetizing. I don’t drink coffee, tea, or alcohol but there were options for each there.

Other Rooms

There are a couple of other cool areas in this lounge too. And no, I’m not talking about the restrooms.

The outdoor terrace was highly anticipated and many expected it to be the coolest part of the lounge. There aren’t many places where it makes sense to have an outdoor space like this, but Los Angeles is as great a place as any to put one. Unfortunately for me it was a bit rainy the day before and morning of my flight, so the outdoor area was not being used. All the seat cushions had been collected and stacked up and the bar area was covered and not staffed. It might have been closed actually, but the door was unlocked so I couldn’t resist walking out there to look around :).

The media/movie room was empty at the time but a cool area to have. I’m not sure if there’s any flexibility to change channels or pick what TV show or movie, but it would be great if you could.

The new Tom Bradley International Terminal is beautiful and very modern, and the Star Alliance Lounge is one of my favorite in the country. It’s a huge, huge step up from the old lounge. It probably helped that there weren’t many people around at the time, but the lounge is still large with plenty of seating.

LAX suddenly isn’t such a terrible airport!

The Old Star Alliance Lounge at LAX (2012)

Before the new terminal opened, I used the old Star Alliance lounge on the way to Hong Kong in November 2012. That lounge no longer exists; this is what it was like.

The first “stop” on my way to Hong Kong was my home airport of LAX. After a smooth check-in in the Asiana Business Class line, I headed straight for security and then the lounge.
The lounge is on the 5th floor, so you’ll need to take the elevator up (it’s directly after you clear security). If I remember correctly the SkyTeam Lounge is on the 4th floor, but I’m not sure where the OneWorld lounge is (possibly 3rd floor). Keep in mind that these lounges, as their name indicates, are open to anyone that has the appropriate status or is traveling in Business or First class, so they can get quite crowded.

The Business Class Lounge

First let me make a distinction: within the Star Alliance Lounge there are two separate lounges – the First Class Lounge and the Business Class Lounge. I was flying in Asiana’s Quadra Smartium Business Class so I was admitted to the Business Lounge.

There are quite a few flights leaving at night (I left on a Thursday night/Friday morning at 12:30am), so the lounge was very full. In fact, I decided to just give up trying to find a seat in favor of taking pictures of the lounge, which you can see below (sorry for a few blurry pictures).

On the opposite side of the entrance is a larger kitchen-like area with more food options. There was some soup and some crab fried rice, but nothing really too substantial. Don’t come here expecting to get a good dinner meal!

In all honesty, the food I had on the plane was better than what was out here. If you can wait, then wait. The tons of people around didn’t exactly make for the most comfortable stay here either.

A little bit after I got there I realized there was an entire room that I completely missed. There is a hallway near the main kitchen seating area in the back that leads to a few workstations and a large seating area, plus there are some individual restrooms with showers, but no handles/nozzles. I didn’t have time to ask about the showers since it was so late, but it’s good to know they’re there.

Of course I had to take a look at the shower room as well. Like I mentioned before, there were no nozzles or handles which was kind of bizarre, but I was on my way out once I found these so I didn’t have time to ask.

The First Class Lounge

Thankfully I’m like a travel ninja and was also able to sneak my way in to the First Class Lounge. For the most part, it was extremely similar to the Business Class Lounge, but with one huge difference: there were only two people in it. It was much more quiet and you had plenty of space to spread out if you wanted. If you have a chance to walk in, you should!

The big difference between the First and Business Lounges was that the First Lounge had a couple of private rooms that could be reserved. These rooms included a large TV and several couches and chairs. It would be perfect if you happen to be travelling with a family!

Getting to the Gate

After leaving the First Class Lounge, everything suddenly seemed like a ghost town. It was so empty that one of the workers asked if I needed help, to which I responded “No, I’m good.” He said “you should probably get going, I would hate for you to miss your flight.” I checked the time and it seemed like I had plenty of time, so I left for my gate.

I got to my gate, the path to which was surprisingly empty, and found a single Asiana employee standing with a walkie talkie. She spotted my look of confusion as I looked upon the empty gate area and promptly said “Sir, the gate for this Asiana flight has been changed.” Great. I left the lounge in such haste that I forgot to check the monitors, and of course the new gate was a literal half mile walk!

I wasn’t in full panic mode but I sure was walking fast. I got there and boarding was underway, but there was still plenty of time left with the number of people on the flight. Business Class had boarded much earlier my line was empty. Unfortunately I had to take a bus to one of those random boarding areas that LAX has, but it was relatively painless. Within 5 minutes, the bus was stopped and I was on the plane!

My review of that flight, OZ203 in Quadra Smartium from LAX to Seoul, is here.

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